Powerful quake hits Papua New Guinea, tsunami alert issued

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A powerful earthquake has stuck Papua New Guinea, triggering a tsunami alert for the country and for the nearby Solomon Islands.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured magnitude 7.5 and was centered 45 kilometers (28 miles) northeast of Kokopo. It said it struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage on the Earth’s surface, but the USGS estimated that damage and injuries would be low because of the sparse population.

Papua New Guinea is located on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, to the east of Indonesia.

It sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire,” the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic activity occur.